Psychology MCAT 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The concept that explains the interaction of behavior, cognition, and environment is reciprocal determinism. This idea, proposed by Albert Bandura, emphasizes that an individual's behavior is influenced by personal factors (cognitive processes and individual characteristics) and environmental factors (social influences, situational contexts), all of which interact dynamically. In this framework, behavior can alter cognitive and environmental factors just as they can influence behavior. Essentially, this creates a continuous feedback loop where each element – the individual’s behavior, their cognitive processes, and the surrounding environment – affects and is affected by the others. This reciprocal relationship is fundamental to understanding how individuals navigate their social world and learn from their experiences.

Behaviorism largely focuses on observable behaviors and does not account for the cognitive processes involved in learning, whereas social learning theory does incorporate some cognitive aspects but does not elaborate on the reciprocal nature of all three components as explicitly as reciprocal determinism does. Cognitive dissonance, on the other hand, refers specifically to the discomfort experienced when holding two conflicting beliefs or attitudes, and it does not encompass the broader interaction of behavior, cognition, and environment.